Princess loses place in line to British throne after becoming Catholic

By Harriet Armstrong| 2 years ago

Grace Kelly’s granddaughter no longer has a shot at being Queen

Grace Kelly's granddaughter is no longer an heir to the British throne.

Princess Alexandra of Hanover, the daughter of Prince Ernst August of Hanover and Princess Caroline of Monaco, has allegedly been removed from the line of succession after becoming a member of the Catholic Church.

The 19-year-old royal was christened a Lutheran as a baby, but has now decided to leave her faith and become a Catholic, just like her mother.

British law still bans Catholics, and other non-Protestants, from succeeding to the throne.

Princess Akexandra with half sister Charlotte Casiraghi (Getty)

Alexandra is the only child of Caroline and Prince Ernst August. She was born on July 20 1999 and is the only child of Princess Caroline’s who has a royal title.

She is still 12th in the line to the Monegasque (Monaco) throne, with Prince Albert II the current reigning monarch.

Caroline, the eldest daughter of the late Princess Grace, has always identified as a Catholic.

Her husband - who belongs to the defunct royal House of Hanover, which held the throne of the United Kingdom until 1901 - had to ask Queen Elizabeth II for permission to marry her when they tied the knot in 1999.

Reactions to the news of Princess Alexandra’s removal from the line of succession have been mixed.

Princess Alexandra (Getty)

“I understand that if the sovereign is also Head of the Church of England, they should be Anglican; but to disallow only Catholics and not others, like Lutherans, is antiquated bigotry,” wrote one Royal Central commenter.

“I'd always thought the Hanovers, like the Hohenzollerns, were out of the line of succession since the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas became Windsors,” added another.

Princess Alexandra may not be Queen of England anytime soon, but she has certainly made her mark on high society.

In March 2015, she made her official social at Monaco's Rose Ball, and has become a fixture at International Fashion Weeks over the past few years.